What's really important?

Another short one today (it's late and I've spent over 6 hours in the car today).  There is little to be gained by fighting over assignation of blame.  The important question to ask is not "who is at fault?" it is "How do we fix this?"  In a well managed organization who is to blame is a self-correcting issue, and the answer is rarely the person who is working towards the solution.

Don't lie.

Seriously, I shouldn't even have to type a post about this.  Lying is both wrong and counter productive.  Especially in an organization where you are not the only employee.  What are you going to do tell everyone that you lied to a client and that they need to make sure not to contradict you?

Lying starts when you don't view the customer and yourself on the same team. the contentious nature of sales sometimes leads people into an us vs them mentality.  It is so much better to work with people towards a common and mutually satisfying goal than to fight with them to make and then keep a sale.

I am by no means one of these perky optimist types.  But I do think that there is a downward spiral associated with negative thoughts about clients.  When you dislike someone you justify giving them less and less acceptable treatment.  Soon enough it leads to the attitude that they are only one customer and there will be others if you don't treat this one in a way that retains them.

I cannot express how much better it is to work with clients who you like.  While it's not always possible, treat the ones you don't care for professionally.  Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal.  And if you do, don't ask to work with me or my clients.

Wrinkles...

We all hate wrinkles, but they are an unavoidable part of working with and transporting most items.  Just remember to warn customers in advance about certain wrinkle related problems.

Linen:  Grass-like fibers form linen fabric.  When you break the "stalk" the wrinkle is permanent.  You can certainly iron linen to minimize wrinkles, but you will never get them out.

Silk: The natural sheen is actually best expressed when there is a wrinkle to refract light, but nobody seems to want them.  Silk should not be steamed as is tends to water spot.  no matter how good your steamer water droplets can and will form.  If you are forced to steam a silk item make sure the client accepts the risk.

Polyester: Sure it doesn't wrinkle, but that also means it won't hold a pleat very well.Sometimes wrinkles are important as an indicator of a fabric's "memory".

One last note:  Steam is very hot, just because the wrinkles aren't falling out does not mean that you should test the temperature of the steam with your arm.  I assure you if it is steam it is hot enough.  I only warn as I have seen someone do it (of course they burned themselves).

Tomorrow is the big day...

Tomorrow I will be purchasing my new vehicle.  I have certainly been reminded of sales techniques good and bad along the way, but the one that sticks out most in my mind is from yesterday.  One of the more aggressive sales people called me on the phone.  When I politely informed her that I had decided to go a different way she asked why and I explained.  Her response was to try to offer me an additional discount.  What's wrong with that approach?  The problem is that my objection was not one of price.  As a matter of fact they already had offered me the lowest price on the vehicle, lower by several hundred dollars than anyone else. When I explained why I was choosing to go with a different dealer and she offered to lower my price it clearly conveyed that she wasn't attentive to me needs.
So often the objections that we face are based on price (of perceived value to be more accurate), but not always.  Sometimes if you order vanilla and you get chocolate getting a dollar off is fine, more often than not you really want vanilla.  Think about how much money you could potentially lose for the company you work for or run if you throw money at problems when it is not needed.

A few tips from a pro...

I am currently in the market for a new vehicle, and the sales people that I am dealing with often leave me with blog fodder.  Today I was given incorrect information, made to leave my wife and toddler in the sun, out-right lied to, and so much more...but my best teachable moment was on a test drive yesterday.

I was driving on 66 in a very under-powered vehicle and trying to get into the exit lane.  I didn't see the vehicle in my blind spot and nearly drove them off the road.  I was COMPLETELY at fault, yet my sales person decided to try to blame the other driver.  Now I can understand not trying to make your customer feel bad, and not saying anything negative about them...but at the same time making racist statements about anyone is not a good tactic to try and close a sale.

Sales professionals, don't do the following: Swear, curse, use profane or vulgar language, symbols, gestures, pictures...need I go on?  Don't make racist, sexist, ageist, or other derogatory bigoted or inflammatory comments.  Don't complain about or badmouth your boss, coworker, competitor, relative, or pretty much anyone.  I am far from the perky optimist that you always meet working at a certain famous chicken place (the one that it always closed on Sunday), but you are rarely going to impress a customer and win the sale by doing any of the above.

If you can't be pleasant at least be professional.  I know that he might not be the most exciting of sales-people, but imagine Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred.  Be him.

Procedures to charge someone...

There is a fair amount of trust in the Decorator/Client relationship.   For most people you are advising the based on your professional expertise.  They want you to keep them from making mistakes and guide them through options where they might not even know what questions to ask.  And while I certainly have clients who tell me to order things where I don't have a shred of proof I suggest you think carefully about what might happen if you order something without the proper documentation.  At the minimum you might have to return something and make an apology.  At worst you could have to defend what is being labelled a fraudulent charge.

With that in mind for those occasions when you  can't write a formal contract I suggest you do the following;  Try to secure a written order with the date, total, the credit card number and expiration date, as well as the customer's name.  If you can a formal statement included that the undersigned authorizes you to charge their card in the listed amount is even better.  Since that isn't always an option the next best thing is to tell them that you will e-mail them the information and that all they need to do is send it back with an acknowledgement that you are authorized to charge them.  Short of that they can leave you a voice mail with the permission to charge them.

If they are unwilling or unable to provide any of the above mentioned items I suggest you tell that that you will need them to mail you a check before you can order.  I might also suggest that you wait for the check to clear, just in case.  Your mileage may vary.

It costs nothing extra...

It costs nothing extra to be polite.  I spoke with a series of 4 new potential clients yesterday.  The last one was looking for a slipcover for a recliner.  I explained the difference between fitted and loose slipcovers and said that we only make fitted slipcovers and that unfortunately we can't make one for a recliner.  At that she decided that her piece was not a recliner and asked me to confirm that if I drove to see her that there would be no charge.  At this point I will let you know that she lives 60 miles from me.  I've been at this spot once of twice before, so I asked her a bit more about the project and learned that they have never had custom work done, their existing piece is in poor condition, and they don't know what they want, but they do know that it is not a solid fabric.

From here I started probing her about what her budget was.  While they didn't have a firm budget their range would put them well below the cost of any slipcover unless we used remnants.  This is not to say that our slipcovers are expensive, as a matter of fact with our current sale and coupons we could have done the job for about $300-$400 (provided it wasn't actually a recliner).  With remnants the job could be as low as about $250 give or take.

The customer informed me that this was simply beyond their budget and...this is when the client asks me when I will be out.  I cannot drive 120 miles and take a day from another client on the off chance that a piece is not a recliner and that I have preselected the correct remnant.  So back to the main point...what should you say?

I politely informed her that is sounded like we weren't going to be able to meet her needs.  If she wanted to go to one of our stores and look at our remnants we easily had pieces that would be sufficiently large for the project, but that was the only way I could think of that we would be close to the price she would like.  At that point she let me know that she would talk it over with her husband and get back to me.  I wouldn't be surprised if I get a call back and she says that they have spoken and would really like me to come out.

If that ever happens to you I strongly suggest you consider going.  She has already been informed of the price and if she calls back that shows a great desire to have the work done.  She wold not be the first person to revise their budget.  But that door only remains open if you are polite, even when someone is likely not going to be a customer.